Waiting on Wednesday #14

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine , which allows us to show off the books we cannot wait to get our hands on :). 

Etiquette and Espionage - Gail Carriger

It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to finishing school.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea--and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right--but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deceit, espionage, and the modern weaponries. Sophronia and her friends are going to have a rousing first year at school.

First in a four book YA series set 25 years before the Parasol Protectorate but in the same universe.

I've yet to read a book by Gail Carriger but my copy of Soulless arrived a few days ago so looking forward to sinking my teeth into it! This book sounds amazing and I was gutted that I didn't get approved to read it on Net Galley! Haha. Can't wait to grab a copy of this bad boy :).

xxx

Review Copy Cleanup 3.0

Vikki at Books, Biscuits and Tea and Celine at Nyx Book Reviews are hosting a Review Copy Cleanup for February, and since I am completely swamped with my read-to-review pile and this sounds perfect! I have far too many galleys from Net Galley to get through, I'm ashamed of myself!

My challenge list:

Rachel Caine - Devil's Bargain

Rachel Caine - Devil's Due

Susan Jane Bigelow - Broken

Karen Lord - The Best of All Possible Worlds

Lee Carroll - Black Swan Rising

Laura Lam - Pantomime      4/5*

I'm hoping I can read these as well as my course books. Fingers crossed!

xxx

Top Ten Tuesday #3

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted over at the wonderful blog; Broke and Bookish. This weeks Top Ten Tuesday is: 

Top Ten Most Frustrating Characters:

10. Katniss Everdeen - I adored her in Hunger Games and Catching Fire but felt that her character was destroyed in Mockingjay. Fine, she 's had a lot to deal with but she turns into such a mopey figure in the final book. She doesn't do anything and then when she does it just doesn't feel like the same strong character anymore! It felt like the strong female protagonist had been swallowed by the Capitol. Maybe that was the point? I felt she should have been stronger as part of the resistance. Worst one was the lack of anything when her sister dies... ergh.

9. Savannah Levine - One of the main figures of Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series. I'm not entirely why but I just couldn't get on with her. She was always assuming she was more in control of her powers than what she was and was more often than not acting like a brat. Hmm. 

8. Ron Weasley - I adore him, I really do, but my god! 'Why can't it be follow the butterflies?' followed by his constant envy of Harry Potter really did grind on me sometimes. He was continuously wallowing in self pity despite his best friend having lost his parents and having Lord Voldemort after him! 

7. Xhex - Good lord. I'm all for feisty female characters but she genuinely needs to realise that John does love her and to just suck it up and stay strong in this relationship!

6. John Matthew - Maaghhhh! How much can this whine?! Easily my least favourite brother and also making up my least favourite couple within J. R. Ward's Blackdagger Brotherhood Series. Stop trying to prevent Xhex from kicking some Lesser bum!

5. Catherine Earnshaw - I don't understand her. At all. Her selfish behaviour towards her husband and Heathcliff really wound me up. Writing my dissertation was interesting that's for sure!

4. Sarah Baartman - This is based on the character, not the woman. I found Hottentot Venus as a novel deeply disturbing and empathised with Sarah Baartman for the majority of the novel. However, towards the end where she began to have a little more power over the situation she was still reluctant to stand up against her oppressors. Granted this is slightly unfair as the novel portrays the issues of racial oppression and the novel may have been trying to stick as close to the true story (based on a real person and real events) as possible. I think I was eager for some sort of comeuppance for those that mistreated her. 

3. Sheila - She is a member of the Resistance in Gemma Malley's The Declaration trilogy. She really frustrated me through her selfish pursuits and poor attempts at manipulation. When she tries to run away to find her parents in the final book is what sealed it for me. She risked and endangered many people in her acts and the easy forgiveness of those around me rankled me. Not a fan!

2. Bella Swan - She slumps and falls into a depressive mourning for the majority of New Moon over a de-masculinised, sparkly vampire. She commits many almost suicidal acts just to hear his voice in her head. She can't cope alone. Need I say anymore about why this character frustrates me? 

1. Anastasia Steel - Where do I even begin? She stands for everything the modern woman should not. She is weak, pathetic, lame, frustrating, monotonous.... the list goes on. I had to drag myself through two of the Fifty Shades books and have yet to read the final book. I know she was meant to be a submissive but my god, if someone tried spanking me for rolling my eyes sh*t would be going down! Haha. 

REVIEW: 'Foreseen' - Terri-Lynne Smiles

'Foreseen' - Terri-Lynne Smiles

Synopsis

What if you could change the thoughts of others? 

Untraceable control.

The Rothston Institute can manipulate the choices of anyone in the world: you, senators, anyone. Fortunately, it has the self-discipline to use this power to keep humankind safe. Stopping wars, averting crises, advancing peace. 

Unfettered power.

To accomplish these feats, their operatives must train, and college student Kinzie Nicolosi has just become one of them. A student missing an exam? A construction worker fired for an industrial accident? A Congressman ruined in scandal? Necessary consequences of honing their skills for the greater good.

Unintended victims.

But Kinzie brings more than her remarkable skills to Rothston. She bears an unexpected power that rivals Rothston’s own. And when she stumbles onto the real intentions of Rothston’s leaders, the clash may be something none of them can control.

My Review: 5/5*

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

REVIEW: 'Crewel' - Gennifer Albin

Crewel - Gennifer Albin

Synopsis 

Enter a tangled world of secrets and intrigue where a girl is in charge of other’s destinies, but not her own.

Sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys has always been special. When her parents discover her gift—the ability to weave the very fabric of reality—they train her to hide it. For good reason, they don’t want her to become a Spinster — one of the elite, beautiful, and deadly women who determine what people eat, where they live, how many children they have, and even when they die. 

Thrust into the opulent Western Coventry, Adelice will be tried, tested and tempted as she navigates the deadly politics at play behind its walls. Now caught in a web of lies and forbidden romance, she must unravel the sinister truth behind her own unspeakable power. Her world is hanging by a thread, and Adelice, alone, can decide to save it — or destroy it. 

REVIEW: 'Runaway Girl' - Elaine White

Runaway Girl - Elaine White

Synopsis

A missing vampire princess. A soul fractured among five young human girls. One loyal vampire with a grudge. Can vampire soldier Damian set aside his personal feelings to follow orders? Can princess Amelia's soul be reunited in time for the meeting of the three clans? Will her brother, Matthew, fight for the right to rule? Who will prevail?

Review: 2/5*

New Blog Button!

So, I wasn't a big fan of my first attempt at a blog button but am so much happier with this one! Have a look :) :

Yayyyyy :D.

Complete credit to the original background goes to Pippins Nest!

xxx